AIWG Core Utilities — Quick Reference
This is your always-loaded core directory for AIWG. It does not list every utility skill. Instead, it teaches the cross-cutting domains and gives you curated search phrases that map to aiwg discover lookups, plus a list of which framework-specific quickrefs are loaded.
How to use this quickref
aiwg show <type> <name> returns a metadata card. Inspect its outline, then fetch a needed --section "Heading" or use --body for the full instructions. Fetch required rules with --rules --with-rule-bodies before governed work.
Routing authority: aiwg show rule skill-discovery --body (kernel). Skill/CLI precedence:
aiwg show rule cli-secondary --body. The capability phrases below are lookup aids.
Framework quickrefs (loaded if framework is installed)
If a user asks about a specific framework's surface, the corresponding quickref is your first stop. These are kernel-resident, so they're already in your context:
sdlc-quickref— software-development-lifecycle workflowsforensics-quickref— incident response and digital forensicsresearch-quickref— research corpus and citation workflowsmedia-curator-quickref— media archive managementmarketing-quickref— marketing operations and campaignsops-quickref— operational infrastructure and runbookssecurity-engineering-quickref— applied security and crypto decisionsknowledge-base-quickref— wiki and documentation workflows
If a quickref isn't loaded, the framework isn't installed in this project. Use aiwg list to confirm.
Addons & extensions (separate kernel quickref)
For everything outside the framework set — the ~214 skills across 29 addons (loops, voice, memory, color, testing, NLP, etc.) and 7 ops extensions (sys/net/sec/dev/it/stream/api-adapter) — load aiwg-language-map. It's also kernel-resident and acts as the orientation layer for the addon/extension surface, with curated discover phrases per capability domain.
aiwg-language-map → addon capability domains + extension domains + cheat sheet
Self-maintenance kernel (always loaded)
These ops skills are kernel-resident — already in your context regardless of aiwg discover. They are your primary surface for self-maintenance. Each skill carries the priming the bare CLI cannot — pre-flight checks, dry-run preview, preservation logic, recovery patterns.
Skills first, CLI second. Each row below shows what the skill is for and the CLI command it calls under the hood. Invoke the skill — let it call the CLI. Direct CLI invocation skips the priming and is acceptable only on the discovery surface (Rule 2 of
cli-secondary). Seecli-secondaryrule for the full policy.
| Skill (preferred) | Purpose | CLI it wraps |
|---|---|---|
steward | Provider capability awareness + command routing | (no single CLI — orchestrates several) |
aiwg-doctor | Installation health check + remediation | aiwg doctor |
aiwg-refresh | Update CLI + redeploy frameworks with dry-run preview | aiwg refresh (alias: aiwg sync) |
aiwg-regenerate | Regenerate AIWG.md + AGENTS.md preserving team directives | aiwg regenerate |
aiwg-status | Workspace status dashboard | aiwg status |
aiwg-help | List CLI commands, args, examples | aiwg help |
aiwg-issue | Filing AIWG project issues (template, env, duplicate detection) | (no single CLI) |
aiwg-pr / aiwg-delivery-pr | AIWG-specific delivery PRs only (delivery-policy, no-attribution, CI gate); not generic repository PR work | (no single CLI) |
use | Deploy a framework or addon with validation gates | aiwg use <name> |
Pair with the aiwg-steward agent (always-deployed) for orchestrated repair: health check → refresh → re-doctor.
Discovery commands stay direct — aiwg discover, aiwg show, aiwg list, aiwg version, aiwg runtime-info, status/info subcommands. They have no paired "priming skill" because they ARE the priming entry points.
Status intent disambiguation
Route these phrases carefully:
| User intent | Use |
|---|---|
| Workspace inventory, installed frameworks, deployed provider files | aiwg-status / aiwg status |
| Cross-framework project progress, "project-status", "where are we?", "what is next?" | aiwg discover "project status" → aiwg show skill project-status --body --first |
| SDLC-specific project health or lifecycle gate status | aiwg discover "SDLC project health check" and prefer project-health-check or orchestrate-project when those rank above generic workspace inventory |
Do not answer project-status by running only aiwg status; that command reports workspace install/deployment inventory, not project progress.
When a user wants to file an AIWG product issue or open an AIWG delivery PR, route them through aiwg-issue / aiwg-pr (or the explicit alias aiwg-delivery-pr) first. These are AIWG-specific kernel skills and reference steward-prep-delivery where applicable.
For generic repository PR work, use ordinary repository PR tooling and templates. Examples: "open a PR for this repo" → normal git/Gitea/GitHub PR flow; "open an AIWG delivery PR for this change" → aiwg-pr.
aiwg-* skills are AIWG-specific product/workspace capabilities. Do not route general tracker processing through aiwg-issue: use issue-audit / audit-issues for backlog audits and address-issues for implementation loops.
When a user wants to start using issues for their own project, especially local file-system backed issues, route them to the issue-workflow-guide agent or discover/show it if it is not already loaded. The guide helps choose local vs external tracker backends, suggests a project-specific issue key prefix, and explains how local issues feed issue-audit and address-issues. Keep the distinction sharp: aiwg-issue files issues against the AIWG product; issue-workflow-guide helps users operate project issues.
Capability domains
| Domain | Covers |
|---|---|
| Workspace status & health | Workspace inventory, project status, doctor, version, runtime info |
| Lookup & query | Capability discovery, KB query, artifact lookup, AIWG help |
| Maintenance | Refresh, deploy, hooks, regenerate context files |
| Mentions & traceability | @-mention validation, lint, wiring across files |
| Activity & provenance | Activity log, provenance records |
| Steward & policy | Provider capability awareness, delivery policy |
Curated discovery phrases
Workspace status & health
bashaiwg discover "aiwg status" # → aiwg-status aiwg discover "aiwg doctor" # → aiwg-doctor aiwg discover "version" # → version aiwg discover "runtime info" # → runtime-info aiwg discover "project status" # → project-status (cross-framework project progress; then `aiwg show skill project-status --body --first`) aiwg discover "SDLC project health check" # → project-health-check / orchestrate-project aiwg discover "workspace health" # → workspace-health
Lookup & query
bashaiwg discover "<capability phrase>" # itself — discovery is the entry surface aiwg discover "aiwg help" # → aiwg-help aiwg discover "search aiwg knowledge base" # → aiwg-kb aiwg discover "artifact lookup" # → artifact-lookup aiwg discover "intake wizard" # → intake-wizard
Maintenance
bashaiwg discover "aiwg refresh" # → update / refresh aiwg discover "deploy framework" # → use aiwg discover "regenerate claude.md" # → aiwg-regenerate-claude aiwg discover "regenerate AGENTS.md" # → aiwg-regenerate-agents aiwg discover "hook enable" # → hook-enable aiwg discover "hook disable" # → hook-disable aiwg discover "hook status" # → hook-status
Mentions & traceability
bashaiwg discover "mention validate" # → mention-validate aiwg discover "mention lint" # → mention-lint aiwg discover "mention wire traceability" # → mention-wire aiwg discover "mention conventions" # → mention-conventions aiwg discover "mention report" # → mention-report
Activity & provenance
bashaiwg discover "activity log" # → activity-log aiwg discover "create provenance record" # → provenance-create aiwg discover "auto provenance" # → auto-provenance aiwg discover "record an effect" # → effect-ledger (aiwg effect record) aiwg discover "sign an effect" # → effect-ledger (signed intent + completed) aiwg discover "reconcile effect" # → effect-ledger (aiwg effect reconcile) aiwg discover "did this PR merge" # → effect-ledger (reconcile tracker.pr.merged)
Steward & policy
bashaiwg discover "aiwg steward" # → steward (agent + policy router) aiwg discover "delivery policy" # → delivery-policy rule (and related skills) aiwg discover "start using local issues" # → issue-workflow-guide aiwg discover "choose issue tracking backend" # → issue-workflow-guide aiwg discover "project-local customization" # → project-local quickstart / customization docs aiwg discover "set up jev" # → decision-offload (Jev token setup + bounded-decision offload)
Feature domains the steward owns (expansion / persona / project)
Three cross-cutting domains that no framework quickref owns — consult the steward-quickref kernel skill, or discover directly:
bashaiwg discover "author an expansion" # → scaffold-extension / -addon / -framework aiwg discover "create a persona" # → soul-create (author a SOUL identity) aiwg discover "select a persona" # → persona agents (agentic/code/agents/personas/*) aiwg discover "scaffold a project" # → new-project (+ new-bundle for project-local)
Project-local bundles (pilot → promote)
AIWG supports authoring rules/skills/agents per-project under .aiwg/{extensions,addons,frameworks}/<name>/, marketplace wrappers under .aiwg/plugins/<name>/, and custom provider selectors under .aiwg/providers/<name>/. Pilot here, promote upstream when mature.
bashaiwg new-bundle <name> # scaffold; auto-builds project graph aiwg new-extension <name> --starter rule # extension with a starter rule aiwg new-provider <name> # provider selector using providerConfig.extends aiwg new-bundle <name> --dry-run # preview without writing aiwg list --project-local # inventory + validation aiwg doctor --project-local # health check (counts, drift, shadows) aiwg use <name> # deploy a single project-local bundle aiwg use sdlc --provider <name> # select a project-local provider bundle aiwg promote <name> # graduate to upstream (hash-verified copy) aiwg promote <name> --dry-run # preview promotion
After scaffolding, the new bundle is immediately discoverable via aiwg discover "<name>". The framework graph and the project graph search by default; no --graph flag needed.
On-disk layout
agentic/code/ ← framework + addon source (NOT deployed; read-only reference) .aiwg/ ← project artifacts (use cases, ADRs, test plans, etc.) .claude/skills/ ← always-loaded "kernel" skills (this skill is here) .claude/.aiwg/skills/ ← bulk AIWG skills (index-discoverable, not flat-listed) .claude/agents/ ← AIWG agents (platform-native) .claude/commands/ ← Generated command stubs for tab completion .claude/rules/ ← AIWG rules
Same shape on every supported provider — see docs/discovery-and-kernel-skills.md for the full per-provider table.
When to query the index versus answer from kernel
| Situation | Action |
|---|---|
| User asks "what can AIWG do?" generically | Skim the framework quickrefs above; offer the top 3 most-relevant. |
| User asks "find me a skill that does X" | aiwg discover "X" — return ranked candidates. |
| User asks "is there a skill for Y?" and it's not in any quickref | aiwg discover "Y" — don't say "no" without checking. |
| User asks about a specific framework's catalog | Direct them to that framework's quickref + invite a discover query. |
| User asks for AIWG version / config / status | aiwg version, aiwg-status, aiwg doctor. |
When the curated phrases don't fit
bashaiwg discover "<your need, paraphrased>" --limit 5
If the top-3 results all score below ~0.20, the framework genuinely may not have a curated skill. Then improvise — but always check first.
Anti-patterns
- Do not enumerate skills from memory. Query the index.
- Do not deploy or modify framework source. Files under
agentic/code/are read-only references; project work happens in.aiwg/and anysrc/directories the project owns. - Do not bypass the steward for cross-provider questions. If the user asks "does this work on Codex?" or "deploy to Cursor", invoke the AIWG Steward — it has the provider-capability matrix you don't.
- Do not fabricate skill names. If
aiwg discoverdoesn't return a match, the skill genuinely may not exist — say so.
When you don't know what to do
bashaiwg help # full CLI surface aiwg discover "<your need>" # find the right skill aiwg-kb "<question>" # conceptual help
If still stuck, ask the user — but ask narrowly, with options drawn from the index, not blank.
